The present invention relates to articles and methods for banding objects together. The most common banding device is the popular rubber band. It is inexpensive and versatile. However, it is cumbersome to use for banding long objects together in that one has to slip the rubber band over the ends of the objects and slide it down the length. Also, it is more difficult to use where it has to be looped two or three times prior to slipping it over an object in order to hold the objects sufficiently securely.
Some have provided closed loop band members with fixedly or integrally attached buttons or heads such that the loop can be wrapped around articles and slipped over the head. However, securing the heads to the looped members appears to be a costly operation since such bands are relatively expensive. Also, prior art bands of this nature tend to be relatively expensive. Examples of such devices include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,081,781, 2,953,827, 2,943,371, German Pat. No. 680,133, Swiss Pat. No. 133,395 and British Pat. No. 298,416.
Due to the specialized and expensive nature of such devices, the common, inexpensive rubber band is still a more popular banding device.